Abstract
This study modeled soil erosion between January 2016 and September 2018 for land management in Golole catchment. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) constituting the main agents of soil erosion was modeled in a Geographical Information System (GIS) environment. The objective of this study was to model soil erosion for land management in the ungauged Golole catchment. The Golole catchment soil erosion map reveals that within the catchment the soil loss was not homogeneous and erosion risk was not the same. The catchment experiences an annual mean score soil loss rate of 279 t/ha that is above the recommended maximum allowable annual soil loss rate of 4 t/ha. The catchment’s soil loss rate is described as high and severe representing 70% and 30% of landmass respectively. This study found the need to decelerate the above soil loss rates to moderate and low levels by adopting soil erosion mitigation measures such as stone contour ridges, manure, strip cropping, and terracing in the cultivated areas and controlled grazing in the lowland rangeland. The study strongly felt the need to protect the forest reserve from tree cutting and further human encroachment. This study concludes that there is the need for further research 1) in the forest reserve areas that showed the greatest rates of soil erosion menace to determine the underlying causes, and 2) to assess the temporal trends of the soil erosion hazard using high-resolution data.
Highlights
Golole catchment located in Marsabit County, Kenya is prone to soil erosion menace that is accelerated by intensive and extensive farming, overgrazing and deforestation
The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) constituting the main agents of soil erosion was modeled in a Geographical Information System (GIS) environment
The Marsabit weather station rainfall amount for the year 1998 was 893 mm that corresponded to the grid with annual rainfall amount of 806 mm shown in the rainfall grid of the study area (Figure 3) translated into a percentage difference of 9.7%
Summary
Golole catchment located in Marsabit County, Kenya is prone to soil erosion menace that is accelerated by intensive and extensive farming, overgrazing and deforestation. Rill and sheet erosion by water occurring in undisturbed lands like pasturelands and rangelands was accelerated by overgrazing [1]. Soil erosion is a common natural disaster that leads to the decline of soil fertility, water quality and unsustainable agricultural production [2]. Soil erosion and degradation of land resources are highly significant spatio-temporal phenomena in many countries [3]. Soil erosion remains a key socio economic and ecological problem in Kenya affecting all sectors of the economy; agriculture, hydropower, fisheries and tourism [3] [4]. Soil is a limited and irreplaceable resource and its loss renders fertile lands barren [5]. The ability to quantify soil loss contributes to effective soil erosion control though the complexity of the variables involved makes prediction of soil loss rate difficult [5] [6]
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